


Provocation

by RetroactiveCon



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Feelings Realization, Jealousy, Leonard Snart is Bad at Feelings, M/M, Mick Rory is Bad at Feelings, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:02:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25152088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RetroactiveCon/pseuds/RetroactiveCon
Summary: It takes Mick awhile to process what’s going on.Or, in which Mick grapples with difficult-to-define feelings for his flirtatious partner.
Relationships: Mick Rory/Leonard Snart
Comments: 4
Kudos: 75





	Provocation

It takes Mick awhile to process what’s going on.

In his defense, he doesn’t do feelings. Outside of whatever the hell he, Snart, and Snart’s kid sister qualify as, he’s only had a single relationship. It was only out of the vague feeling that, by his mid-twenties, he was obligated to give the dating thing a try. It lasted a week. He thinks he _could_ have a relationship…maybe…but everyone except Snart treats him like he’s worth less than (and less intelligent than) a piece of moldy bread, so: not much in the way of possible partners. Except Snart.

Which brings him back to the current problem: Snart. And the fact that he’s flirting with a mark.

“Whew!” Snart comes back over with a broad smile that to anyone else would look lovestruck—to Mick, it looks victorious. “Such a fine, _rich_ lady.”

“Yeah, and she gets off slumming it,” Mick grunts and takes another sip of his beer.

“Good thing she does.” Snart pats his pockets. Mick hears the faint but distinctive clink of jewelry. “We should get gone before she notices.”

As they leave the party as discreetly as possible, Mick finally asks the burning question. “But did you have to flirt with her?”

Snart cocks his head. “Why does it matter? It’s about the job. If the marks interested me, I wouldn’t be robbing them while their attention was elsewhere, would I?”

Mick takes some comfort from this. Snart doesn’t care about the marks. He’s just getting the job done. “Yeah, I guess.”

Snart narrows his eyes but doesn’t say anything. The fact that he spends the whole way home nudging the back of his hand against Mick’s is just coincidence. Maybe he’s getting clumsy at the ripe old age of twenty-three. 

Mick has no idea why the thought that the touches are deliberate makes his chest feel like it’s full of tickling flames.

***

The next time, the flirting is deliberate.

Snart makes a habit of giving part of his cut from more successful heists back to the community. Mick thinks it’s a ridiculous habit for a man as motivated by money as Snart, but when he sees the types of charities Snart picks—a domestic violence shelter, a program for abused kids, a shelter for homeless queer youth—he gets it. These are the places Snart wishes he’d had the option to find, and he’s making it easier for anyone like him to get help.

That doesn’t mean there’s any need for Snart to be flirting with the volunteer at the shelter for queer youth. 

“Really?” Snart’s got the look on his face that only happens when he’s putting together a plan or noticing a particularly interesting detail. He’s _fascinated_ by the volunteer, who’s turning steadily redder the longer he talks to them. Mick is suddenly overwhelmed with the need to burn something. 

“Um.” The volunteer rubs the back of their neck. Some of their hair falls into their face, almost hiding their sheepish glance at Mick. His urge to burn something grows stronger. “I-I think your partner wants to leave.”

“Mick?” Snart turns around. When his eyes fall on Mick, they soften. “Yeah, I should get him home, he doesn’t do well in crowds for very long.” He holds out a hand to the volunteer. “It’s been lovely to meet you.”

At this point, Mick has heard enough. He strides closer, grabs Snart’s arm, and tows him out the door.

“Mick!” Snart squirms. “What, am I not allowed to have a nice conversation now?”

“You were flirting,” Mick grumbles. When he tries to decide why it matters, he feels only the need to burn things. That’s not helpful. Since it seems accurate-ish, he settles on, “Not good to distract volunteers. Probably had stuff to do.”

“Why do you care? You don’t even like that I donate my cut.” Snart tugs his arm free and studies Mick with entirely too much focus. Mick doesn’t like it.

“Well, we’re here, right?” He glances down at the sidewalk. “And you’d wanna donate to an efficient place, so…flirting doesn’t keep a place efficient.”

Snart is still staring at him—Mick can feel it but refuses to meet his gaze. Eventually, he offers a too-casual “Guess so.” Somehow, Mick doubts he’s heard the last of this conversation.

***

The third time is the final straw. Mick’s seen Snart flirt around before, but never with a guy. Somehow, that makes it feel even more personal. Doesn’t help that the guy is hot—sure, a little on the small side, but for all he knows, that’s Snart’s type. That would make sense. Snart likes control, so having a partner he could push around a little would probably be his idea of a great time.

“We’re going,” he says after about five minutes of pretending not to notice the guy chatting Snart up and making him laugh. 

“Oh.” The guy backs off immediately. Mick thinks he’s just that fearsome (good) until the guy babbles, “I didn’t realize you were taken.”

“Taken?” Snart laughs. “No, this is…my…partner.” He trails off into what sounds like genuine confusion. Mick is about to push him to explain when he bursts out, “Mick, how long have I felt this way?”

“What way?” Mick grunts, though he thinks he knows. It’s the same warm, tickly feeling in his chest that he gets around Snart sometimes. 

Snart bolts to his feet and pulls Mick into a different booth to give them the illusion of privacy. As soon as they sit down, he blurts, “You’re jealous of me flirting, aren’t you?”

Mick shrugs. Jealousy is as good a way as any to explain why he wants to burn something every time he sees Snart flirt. “Guess so?”

“Good, because people are pretty but every time I flirted, I wanted _your_ reaction.” Snart takes Mick’s hand and bashes his head lightly against Mick’s knuckles. “We’re completely ridiculous. I wanted to make you jealous this whole time and I barely realized.”

“Wait.” Mick holds out his fingers so that the next time Snart sits forward, he pushes his face into Mick’s hand. This earns a grumble, but Snart doesn’t pull back. “You’re telling me we’ve wanted each other this whole time and not known it?”

“I didn’t think this was what love felt like,” Snart admits. “I thought it was, I dunno…”

“Like flames?” Mick ventures. He had too—not the soft, tickling flamelike feeling in his chest when he’s with Snart, but a roaring, consuming fire. For some reason, he likes this better. 

Snart nods. “This feels like…like we fit. It’s not burning, it’s just…good.” He nuzzles his head around so that Mick’s hand is cradling his cheek. 

“So does this mean we’re partners?” Mick strokes his thumb over Snart’s cheekbone. It doesn’t jut out as much as it used to—he’s lost the scrawny, underfed look he had when they first met. (Mick’s not one for boasting, but he’ll happily take the credit for that.)

“We’ve always been partners, but yes.” Snart’s eyes soften at the petting. (Len—Mick should probably start thinking of him as Len, now that they’re partners in every way.) 

They stay there for awhile, both of them enjoying the petting. Presently, Len gives a little chuckle. “What would we have done without that guy telling us to get our act together, huh?”

“Been old and grumpy and unaware of each other’s feelings?” Mick guesses. It feels weird to say ‘feelings’—they don’t do feelings—but in this case, he can’t think of what else to say.

Len’s eyebrows twitch, evidently in agreement. “Yeah,” he admits. “Glad we avoided that.”

The warm, tickling feeling is back. Mick grins. It’s good to know what that means—that he wants his little partner, and hopefully always will.


End file.
